Kid Icarus: Uprising
Kid Icarus: Uprising (新・光神話　パルテナの鏡 Shin Hikari Shinwa Parutena no Kagami, lit. "New Light Myth: Palutena's Mirror") is a long awaited revival of the Kid Icarus series that was published by Nintendo. It was officially announced at E3 2010 that a new Kid Icarus game would be coming out for the new Nintendo 3DS (And is out now). It has taken a re-imagined 3D design of Pit and the enemies of the original NES game, though Pit and Palutena themselves are based off their Super Smash Bros. Brawl looks. Their character models are slightly downgraded from Super Smash Bros. Brawl due to the hardware limitation, but even so, the game itself seems very advanced graphic-wise for its system, the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo's newest portable. Project Sora is the developer, with Masahiro Sakurai as the lead designer. On January 20, 2012, he confirmed that Kid Icarus Uprising has gone gold, meaning the game is ready for mass production. The game was released on March 22nd in Japan, March 23rd in the US and Europe, and will be released March 29th in Australia. Story Uprising is a direct sequel to the classic NES game, and takes place 24 (25 in the Japanese version) years after the original Kid Icarus. Medusa has been revived, and once again attempts to eradicate the mortals while seeking revenge from Pit and Palutena. In hearing this news, Palutena summons her most loyal servant, Pit, to stop Medusa and her Underworld Army, and restore peace to Angel Land once more. Along the way, Pit will encounter many new characters and enemies in the greatly expanded Kid Icarus universe. The story mode will also be divided into separate chapters that each represent a stage. Chapter 1: ''The Return of Palutena'' Chapter 2: ''Magnus and the Dark Lord'' Chapter 3: ''Heads of the Hewdraw'' Chapter 4: The Reaper's Line of Sight Chapter 5: Pandora's Labyrinth of Deceit Chapter 6: Dark Pit Chapter 7: The Seafloor Palace Chapter 8: Star Ship of the Heavens Chapter 9:'' Medusa's Final Battle'' Chapter 10: The Wish Seed Chapter 11: Viridi, Goddess of Nature Chapter 12: Wrath of the Reset Bomb Chapter 13: The Lunar Sanctum Chapter 14: Lightning Battle Chapter 15: Mysterious Invaders Chapter 16: Aurum Hive Chapter 17: Aurum Core Chapter 18: The Ring of Chaos Chapter 19: Lightning Chariot Chapter 20: Palutena's Temple Chapter 21: The Chaos Vortex Chapter 22: Scorched Feathers Chapter 23: Lord of the Underworld Chapter 24: The Three Trials Chapter 25: The War's End Gameplay Modes The game appears to be shoot'em up based, apparently with an upgrade system for Pit's blades as well. Pit retains the twin blade from Brawl, but they can be upgraded into more fierce melee weapons. As it can be gleaned from the trailer, there seems to be three primary modes of play. Single Player The single player mode is where the main game and its story will take place. Each chapter of the story is divided into three sections: Flight Sections In this game, Pit is granted the Power of Flight from Palutena, giving him the ability to fly for a limited amount of time. The areas where this ability is used resemble a free-aiming flight mode as seen in titles such as Panzer Dragoon and Omega Boost, where Pit can fly in one direction and aim in another, reminiscent of the Palace in the Sky in the original Kid Icarus. But as the trailer states, Pit can only maintain flight for 5 minutes at a time, after that Pits wings will burn out and he will fall. He can also now battle in the air and target enemies. Land Sections This appears to be a free-roaming mode, where Pit can alternate easily between melee and ranged combat depending on how close he is to an enemy. In this mode, Pit is also able to perform fast dodges and run very fast while shooting. The land sections will make up the largest parts of the game. Boss Battles At the end of every chapter, Pit will face off with a boss character. These range from fighting massive monsters such as Twinbellows, to battling other major characters like Dark Lord Gaol. In some cases, such as with Hewdraw, a portion of the boss fights might take place during the flying sections in addition to the land sections. Multiplayer In Multiplayer Mode, players can become Pit, Dark Pit, or the Fighters. There is a team deathmatch mode that pits Light Team and Dark Team against each other in battle. There is also a Free for All mode. These are avaliable over both local and online play. AR Battles The game will also feature an expansive AR Battle Mode, allowing players to see all characters, enemies, items, and weapons using AR cards and the Nintendo 3DS's dual cameras. With this mode, battles can be waged with different characters and enemies, each of which have their own stats and health bars. Fiend's Cauldron At the end of the newest Uprising trailer, four images were shown teasing different modes of the game, with one being translated as the Fiend's Cauldron . This particular item is also shown on its own AR card being filled with Hearts, likely hinting that collecting and putting them in the Cauldron will serve a purpose in the game besides adding to the score. It was later revealed that the cauldron is for adjusting the level of difficulty in the game. This is done by taking the hearts you have earned and putting them in, increasing the intensity. The intensity ranges from 0.0 to 9.0. If you are defeated during the chapter, then the amount of hearts you have will be lowered. The higher the insensity, the more hearts and new weapons you can earn. Items Multiple Items have been revealed during gameplay videos and in trailers. Hearts will make a return as items dropped by downed monsters. Treasure Boxes have also been seen containing items such as Food, Grenades, and Drinks of the Gods. Weapons Pit starts with a weak blade, but, as he progresses, Pit gains a very large arsenal of powerful weapons that can be chosen from before each stage. Every weapon has close and long range attacks and charged and rapid fire attacks. In addition, each weapon has a special power attack that can clear the screen of most enemies, although they can only be used during flight. Each of these attacks is represented by a number of blue orbs at the bottom left of the touchscreen. The weapon catagories are as follows: *Bow - Weapons that shoot homing arrows. They are slit into two blades for melee attacks. *Blade - Balanced weapons that are good at any range. *Claws - Claws worn on both hands. They are best at short range *Orbitars - Two floating orbs that fire two enery shots at multiple foes, or one shot at a single foe. *Arm - Bulky giant fist like devices that Pit wears on his arm. Best at short range *Palm - Glowing arua aroung Pit's hand that shoots energy. Can also be used to slash foe. *Cannon - Large gun that Pit wears on his arm and is similar to Samus Arn's arm cannon in the Metroid series. These weapons slow the user down and are best used at a range. *Staff - Spear-like staffs that curves at the end. They are like sniper rifles and thier shots gain power over distance. *Club - Massive weapons that can deflect enemy projectiles, or fire giant projectiles of thier own. They slow down the user and only have a two-hit combo when used as melee weapons. Miracles Miracles are new weapons and abilities that Pit can use in battle. They can have different effects when used, ranging from unleashing powerful attacks to recovering Pit's health. Vehicles In addition to these weapons and abilities, Pit will also be able to utilize armed vehicles in battle and for transportation. It is currently unknown how many vehicles will be in the game, with the Beetle being the only one revealed so far. Also there will be a robot like armour and a sphere shaped vehicle. In the current Medusa Trailer it has been shown that a vehicle known as the 'Cherubot' can be used by Pit as armour and as a weapon. Confirmed Appearances Major Characters and Voice Cast So far, these are the major characters with voice acting roles that have been confirmed: Unknown Characters *What appears to be a young girl was revealed on an official AR Card. Like Magnus, she is classified as unaffiliated with either the Underworld Army or Palutena's Army, but it is currently unknown what role she will play in the story. *A character literally called Cake, which appears in certain levels as a weak foe. Medusa's Army Medusa's army is unique in that it is primarily an aerial force, with most enemy creatures revealed so far being capable of flight or levitation. Trailers and screenshots have revealed many enemies that will appear in the game. Returning Enemies A number of familiar monsters have been seen in the trailers, including, but not limited to: * Daphne * Mick * Monoeye * Shemum * Ganewmede * Keron * Nettler * Octos * Specknose * Syren * Komayto * Commyloose * Monolith * Twinbellows * Hewdraw * Pandora * Thanatos * Eggplant Wizard * ReaperPandora New Enemies *Tempura Wizard Quite a few monsters have been shown that have not appeared in previous games. The names of these enemies have yet to be revealed, but their descriptions are as follows: *A floating, yellowish shell with clawed arms and a tail. It appears to have a light coming from the inside of the shell's opening, which may serve as its eye. *A creature resembling a hammerhead shark that can shoot energy blades from its head. *A squid-like monster that can spin its four arms like a propeller. A crystal underneath it allows this enemy to use a rapid-fire plasma attack while spinning. *A disembodied hand with a red eye in its palm. This creature's "body" actually ends in another clawed hand that it uses to move around very rapidly. *A small creature that doesn't attack or move from its position, but it can put up a force field to protect other enemies that might be near it. *A large, bug-like monster with three vibrating legs that allow it to "slide" along the ground without actually needing to walk. When attacked, it will hop on its back and begin spinning very rapidly towards its target like a top. *A weird, dancing thing with eyes and a mouth that makes a lot of racket. *An orange saucer-like creature with what appears to be a single eye. It has two short legs that hang down beneath its large head. *A floating, orange coral-like creature with a blue mouth. When hit with a ranged attack, it breaks apart into multiple shards that fly towards Pit. However, using melee attacks on the monster appears to send the shards flying in the opposite direction. *A cave-dwelling monster with one eye that wears a rock shell on its back. This shell has spiky crystals jutting out of it that can be shot at Pit and regenerate thereafter. *A purple monster wearing a giant, spiked shell that resembles a nautilus. *A flying fish-like creature that may also be an unaffiliated character like Cake. *A somewhat futuristic, giant squid, or Kraken-like creature that Palutena refers to as a 'Space Kraken.' Anime A mini-series of Kid Icarus Anime shorts has been confirmed to be in production by three different animation studios. Whether this will lead to a full series remains to be seen. External Links *Official Website (Japanese) *Official Nintendo Page (English) *Official Website (English) *The trailer thumb|300px|left|Kid Icarus Uprising Trailer-E3 2010 Category:Games Category:Kid Icarus: Uprising